Berkeley teacher and activist Yvette Felarca must pay a national conservative group more than $20,000 in legal fees, a federal judge said Wednesday.In his order, Judge Vince Chhabria called Felarca and her colleagues’ lawsuit against Berkeley Unified, in which conservative organization Judicial Watch was named a party, “frivolous” and “unreasonable.”“This is an exceptional circumstance,” wrote Chhabria. He declined to award Judicial Watch the full $326,159 that the Washington, D.C. organization had sought.The case stems from a 2017 records request filed by Judicial Watch. The group asked Berkeley Unified for all emails sent among district and King Middle School staff related to Felarca and her radical activism with By Any Means Necessary. Felarca has been a prominent figure at many local political rallies and is currently facing a felony charge in Sacramento for allegedly assaulting a neo-Nazi demonstrator.

BUSD officials at the time said they were obligated to fill Judicial Watch’s request, but would only release documents required under the California Public Records Act.